Hispanic Rights Chief Quits Clinton Panel

By STEVEN A. HOLMES

Published: April 14, 1996

WASHINGTON, April 13—
A leading Hispanic civil rights advocate has resigned from a Presidential commission on Hispanic education, declaring that it had become too entangled in partisan politics and had lost its independence.

In his letter of resignation, dated April 12, Raul Yzaguirre, president of the National Council of La Raza, said he was stepping down as chairman of the President's Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans because he felt that the panel "as currently structured cannot deliver on its mandate."

Mr. Yzaguirre said in his letter that the commission lacked money and political independence, and that "too many of the current commissioners are closely associated with partisan politics."

He also complained that a comprehensive report depicting how the Federal Government responds to the needs of Hispanic students -- supposedly the centerpiece of the commission's work -- had been delayed.

"I regret to inform you that the current working draft is now more than seven months overdue, and not close to completion," Mr. Yzaguirre wrote. "Worse, it bears little resemblance to the document we had all envisioned."

In an interview on Friday, Mr. Yzaguirre said he and some other commissioners were frustrated with the panel's inability to get cooperation from Federal agencies that were asked to provide information on programs intended to improve the educational performance of Hispanic students. And, he said, the commission's executive director, Alfred Ramirez, and some other commissioners did not press for the data because they feared it depicted the Administration in an unfavorable light.

"We've been after the staff, been after Alfred, to keep on the bureaucracy to make sure we got the information," Mr. Yzaguirre said. "He told us he was organizing the bureaucracy to be responsive. We were adamant. We were agressive as a commission, but we got no response."

Mr. Yzaguirre emphasized that his frustrations with the 25-member panel, which was established by President George Bush, pre-date the Clinton Administration. He said some aspects of the commission were worse when the Republicans controlled the executive branch.

"This is not an anti-Clinton issue," Mr. Yzaguirre said. "We're not anti-Clinton."

Still, his resignation is likely to embarrass the Administration among Hispanic voters, a minority group that, unlike blacks, has historically been much up for grabs.

Officials of the National Council of La Raza, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that many commissioners and Mr. Ramirez, a former business associate of Housing Secretary Henry G. Cisneros, were overly concerned with Mr. Clinton's re-election and feared that by highlighting the Government's shortcomings in Hispanic education it would provide fodder for his Republican rival.

"There are operatives in the White House that felt that anything that was negative would be viewed as a criticism of President Clinton," said one official of the Hispanic organization. "We didn't see it that way. These are not problems that President Clinton created. They are systemic, endemic problems within the Federal bureaucracy."

Anna M. Guzman, vice chairwomen of the commission, said she believed Mr. Yzaguirre's frustrations stemmed from his lack of familiarity with the Federal bureaucracy. She also denied that there was any effort to delay publication of the commission's report to forestall criticism of the Administration..

"This commission, although Mr. Yzaguirre thinks it is not bipartisan, has 24 educators on it," said Ms. Guzman, who is vice president of Austin Community College. "If you understand educators, you know the slowness of the process may be a function of the quality that we want in the report, and it is absolutely not a function of politics."

The Hispanic educational initiative that Mr. Bush began was extended by Mr. Clinton on Feb. 22, 1994. He created two blue ribbon panels, the White House Initiative on Education Excellence for Hispanic Americans, an interagency working group, and the President's Advisory Commission, made up of national education experts and business leaders.

Among the issues it is to look at are ways to increase the number of Hispanic teachers, reduce the high school dropout rate of Hispanic students, insure that such students receive their fair share of Federal education aid and to submit annual reports to the President.

But under both the Bush and Clinton administrations, the commission has had a partisan tinge, with most of the commissioners getting their positions as a result of political patronage. For example, five members of the current panel have brothers or sisters who are political appointees of the Clinton Administration.

Photo: Raul Yzaguirre resigned last week as chairman of the President'sAdvisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans, saying it had become too enmeshed in partisan politics. (Stephen Crowley/The New York Times)